The Thomistic Institute

Latest Episodes:

The Contemplative Life | Father James Brent, O.P. Aug 28, 2023

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The lecture was given on June 29th, 2023, at the Thomistic Institute Student Leadership Conference at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming events Speaker Bio: Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. was born and raised in Michigan. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in Philosophy, and completed his doctorate in Philosophy at Saint Louis University on the epistemic status of Christian beliefs according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and on “Thomas Aquinas” in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology. He earned his STL from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. He taught in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America from 2010-2014, and spent the year of 2014-2015 doing full-time itinerant preaching on college campuses across the United States. Since then, he has been an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies.

Thirsting for Prayer: Our Hearts are Made for God | Sister Maria Kiely, O.S.B. Aug 25, 2023

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This lecture was given on March 31st, 2023, at a Thomistic Institute Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies with North Carolina State University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Sr. Maria Kiely, O.S.B. (Dominican House of Studies)is a Benedictine of the Congregation of Solesmes. She specializes in Christian thought and Scriptural exegesis in the early Church and in the rise and development of monasticism. She has studied in depth the life and writings of Ambrose of Milan and his use and adaptation of Origen and Plotinus. Her current research focuses on the development of the tradition of hymnody in the early Church through the Middle Ages. She is currently participating in a major commentary on the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. In addition to her work at Catholic University, she teaches Greek and Latin at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies. She is also on the Editorial Committee for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, OP & Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. about his latest Thomistic Institute, "St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God." St. Thomas Aquinas on Love in the Incarnation of God w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://on.soundcloud.com/f9Wve For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Originally from a farm in Kansas, Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., is a priest in the Dominican Province of St. Joseph who teaches on the pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC where he is editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He has authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (The Catholic University of America Press, 2023). He is editor or co-editor of several volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology, and Thomas Aquinas as Spiritual Teacher.

The Life of Prayer: Where to Begin | Father Gabriel O'Donnell, O.P. Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

This lecture was given at a Thomstic Institute Intellectual Retreat at The Dominican House of Studies w North Carolina State University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. Speaker Bio: Fr. O’Donnell grew up in Syracuse, New York. After two years as a student at Providence College, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970. In 1971 he earned an MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1980 earned an STD degree in the area of Liturgical Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, in Rome. He has previously taught at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, PA and the Angelicum in Rome. In addition to teaching, he currently serves as a vice-postulator for the cause for sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and as vice-postulator for the cause of Rose Hawthorne, founder of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, NY. He previously survived as postulator for the cause of canonization of Father Paul of Graymoor, which has also been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. With Robin Mass, Ph.D., Fr. O’Donnell is the author of Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church and has contributed to A Love That Never Ends: A Key to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Liturgy of the Hours: The Church's Prayer is our Prayer | Sister Maria Kiely, O.S.B. Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

This lecture was given at a Thomistic Institute Intellectual Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies with North Carolina State University on March 31st, 2023. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Sr. Maria Kiely, O.S.B. (Dominican House of Studies)is a Benedictine of the Congregation of Solesmes. She specializes in Christian thought and Scriptural exegesis in the early Church and in the rise and development of monasticism. She has studied in depth the life and writings of Ambrose of Milan and his use and adaptation of Origen and Plotinus. Her current research focuses on the development of the tradition of hymnody in the early Church through the Middle Ages. She is currently participating in a major commentary on the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. In addition to her work at Catholic University, she teaches Greek and Latin at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies. She is also on the Editorial Committee for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

Prayer and the Hunger for Meaning | Father Gabriel O'Donnell, O.P. Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

This lecture was given on March 31st, 2023, at a Thomistic Institute Retreat at the Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. O’Donnell grew up in Syracuse, New York. After two years as a student at Providence College, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970. In 1971 he earned an MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1980 earned an STD degree in the area of Liturgical Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, in Rome. He has previously taught at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, PA and the Angelicum in Rome. In addition to teaching, he currently serves as a vice-postulator for the cause for sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and as vice-postulator for the cause of Rose Hawthorne, founder of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, NY. He previously survived as postulator for the cause of canonization of Father Paul of Graymoor, which has also been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. With Robin Mass, Ph.D., Fr. O’Donnell is the author of Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church and has contributed to A Love That Never Ends: A Key to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Early Christian Baptism and Baptisteries | Professor Robin Jensen Aug 18, 2023

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This lecture was given on May 16th, 2023, at the University of Oregon. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Robin Jensen’s research and publication focuses on the relationship between early Christian art and literature and examines the ways that visual images and architectural spaces should be regarded as modes of theological expression. Her published essays and books contend that, in addition to interpreting sacred texts, visual images enhance liturgical settings, reflect the nature and content of devotional piety, and explicate ritual practices. She teaches courses on the character of late antique Christian and Jewish art, the history and evolution of Christian architecture, the iconography of the cross and crucifix, depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and the place and controversies over images and idols in ancient and early medieval Christianity. Additionally, she has researched the practices, distinctive character, and material evidence of Christianity in ancient Roman North Africa. Her current project, tentatively titled "From Idols to Icons" (under contract with the University of California Press) examines the emergence of a Christian material piety in the fourth and fifth centuries. This work discusses the perceived danger of visual representations of divine beings, early controversies over the miraculous power of saints' shrines and relics, the sacralization of structures and geographical places, and the belief that images may facilitate the presence of holy persons in their absence.

The Role of Philosophy in Liberal Education | Professor Joshua Hochschild Aug 17, 2023

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This lecture was given on April 27th, 2023, at Saint Louis University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

The Case for Free Will | Professor Matthew Dugandzic Aug 16, 2023

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This lecture was given on April 18th, 2023, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Matthew Dugandzic joined the theology faculty at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in 2019 after completing a Ph.D. in moral theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. His dissertation, "A Thomistic Account of the Habituation of the Passions," explored the ways in which people can develop virtuous affective inclinations. Dr. Dugandzic's scholarship focuses on medieval thought, especially Thomas Aquinas' anthropology, psychology, and ethics. His work on Christ's passions recently appeared in the European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas and his other writings on the passions and on bioethics have appeared in New Blackfriars and National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly. His current research focuses on the sources that Aquinas used in developing his understanding of virtue and on recovering ancient and medieval wisdom regarding economics in order to apply this wisdom to contemporary financial problems (like student loan debt). In addition to his doctorate, Dr. Dugandzic holds a BSc in biology from Concordia University in Montréal, Québec and an MA in religious studies from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. He and his wife, Audra, live in Baltimore, MD. In his spare time, he likes to play hockey, which he enjoys almost as much as reading theology.

What Happens To The Soul After Death | Father Ambrose Little, O.P. Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

This lecture was given on April 27th, 2023 at Cornell University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website: thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events Speaker Bio: Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph. He was born and raised in Connecticut and studied philosophy at The Catholic University of America. He joined the Order of Preachers in 2007, making his solemn vows in 2011 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2013. Fr. Little has a Ph.L. from the School of Philosophy of The Catholic University of America and received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia, where he completed a dissertation entitled Aristotelian Change and the Scala Naturae. He primarily works on topics of interest in Aristotelian-Thomism and natural philosophy. He has previously taught at Providence College and is now a member of the faculty of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

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